Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.

But reasonableness is a standard set by the community in which you're operating. I'm quite sure landlords in India don't get "curry remediation costs" after a tenant leaves their property. And I'm confident that in NJ you won't be able to collect money for "ethnic cooking smells" left over by a tenant who cooked spicy food in his kitchen.

You would be wrong because it's above "normal wear and tear".

Quote:

As I've said, courts interpret this as "return as you were given, minus normal wear and tear". Those are the rules of the game if you want to run a business as a landlord.

I would not rent an apartment that smelled like curry. It's such a pervasive smell. I like Indian food while I'm eating it, but I don't want the smell in my home. I like fish enough that I make it at home, but I keep a fan going in my kitchen, and I don't usually fry it. The oil gets on the walls and sticks, and it's just full of fish smell. I imagine oil has something to do with why the smell of Indian food sticks.

I don't agree with those who would burn scented candles or use Febrese and its scent cohorts. Then you have two powerful stenches. Lose-lose.

I had a cubicle mate once, who was from Pakistan, maybe. And he came into work every day reeking of curry. Curry and dirty clothes, actually. I asked to be moved eventually, but changing cubicles is a lot easier than dealing with an apartment that stinks.

The last time I rented an apartment, I didn't smell any with Indian food, but I didn't rent what would otherwise have been a perfect place because it stank so of scented candles. There's no way I wanted to live there, and I told the landlady exactly why. She offered to have it cleaned, but it stank so much, I just couldn't do that to myself.

Until the day when landlords wise up and expand the "no smoking" clauses in leases to include other stenches, I wonder if it's possible for Indians who come to America, presumably to go to school, to learn to cook non-Indian food. And maybe for all people not to use scented candles, incense, and air "freshener" in rental apartments.

Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.